ArticleJournal of sport rehabilitation2015
Sport specialization's association with an increased risk of developing anterior knee pain in adolescent female athletes.
Article in Journal of sport rehabilitation, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 252 citations in OpenAlex.
- What Defines Early Specialization: A Systematic Review of Literature.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020Pooled it
- Incidence and prevalence of patellofemoral pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- The FIFA 11 + Referees program improves knee proprioception in female futsal referees.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of FIFA 11 + warm-up program on kinematics and proprioception in adolescent soccer players: a parallel‑group randomized control trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Analysis of Ankle Mobility and Dynamic Valgus Knee in Runners With and Without Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Golf-Related Injuries in Adolescent Golfers: A Scoping Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Parental perspectives on youth sport specialization: insights on motivators across specialization levels.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- The Impact of an 8-Week Running Technique Program on Linear and Change-of-Direction Speed in Youth Football-A Pilot Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Impact of Overtraining on Injury Rates in School-Age Athletes-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Early Sport Specialization in a Pediatric Population: A Rapid Review of Injury, Function, Performance, and Psychological Outcomes.Clinics and practice · 2025Review
- Imaging of soccer injuries in adolescent female athletes.Skeletal radiology · 2025Review
- Abnormal patellar sagittal spatial kinematics in patients with patellofemoral pain: an in vivo dynamic CT study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- Investigating the effects of previous injury on subsequent training loads, physical fitness, and injuries in youth female basketball players.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Effects of Early Sport Specialization on Injury Load Management and Athletic Success of National Basketball Association Players.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Management of persistent patellofemoral pain conditions using a tricompartmental offloading knee brace: a case series.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2024Article
- Youth Sport Specialization: Current Concepts and Clinical Guides.HSS journal : the musculoskeletal journal of Hospital for Special Surgery · 2024Review
- Sport Specialization and Sport Motivation in Middle School-Aged Athletes.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo determine if sport specialization increases the risk of anterior knee pain in adolescent female athletes.
designRetrospective cohort epidemiology study.
methodsFemale basketball, soccer, and volleyball players (N = 546) were recruited from a single county public school district in Kentucky consisting of 5 middle schools and 4 high schools. A total of 357 multisport and 189 single-sport (66 basketball, 57 soccer, and 66 volleyball) athlete subjects were included due to their diagnosis of patellofemoral pain (PFP) on physical exam. Testing consisted of a standardized history and physician-administered physical examination to determine the presence of PFP. This study compared self-reported multisport athletes with sport-specialized athletes participating in only 1 sport. The sports-participation data were normalized by sport season, with each sport accounting for 1 season of exposure. Incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated and used to determine significant differences between athletes who specialized in sport in early youth and multisport athletes.
resultsSpecialization in a single sport increased the relative risk of PFP incidence 1.5-fold (95% CI 1.0-2.2, P = .038) for cumulative PFP diagnoses. Specific diagnoses such as Sinding Larsen Johansson/ patellar tendinopathy (95% CI 1.5-10.1, P = .005) and Osgood Schlatter disease (95% CI 1.5-10.1, P = .005) demonstrated a 4-fold greater relative risk in single-sport compared with multisport athletes. Incidence of other specific PFP diagnoses such as fat pad, plica, trauma, pes anserine bursitis, and iliotibial-band tendonitis was not different between single-sport and multisport participants (P > .05).
conclusionEarly sport specialization in female adolescents is associated with increased risk of anterior knee-pain disorders including PFP, Osgood Schlatter, Sinding Larsen-Johansson compared with multisport athletes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.